firewater's fabulous reef

[hobogato]

took a few pics at john's house today and thought i would share his tank with you. i am sure he will chime in with the particulars.....

some pics

thru the glass
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/DSC05760.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/DSC05767.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/DSC05772.jpg

top down
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/PDRM3825.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/PDRM3830.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/PDRM3834.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/PDRM3836.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/PDRM3837.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/PDRM3839.jpg

slide show of em all (49 pics)
http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/th_DSC05726.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/?action=view&current=7f844d8d.pbw)

finally, a fts
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/DSC05726.jpg

[Europhyllia]

wow that big bunch of blue zoanthids is very awesome!

[FireWater]

WOW! Truly awesome Ace. I see the tank everyday and your pics make it look even better than in person.

[FireWater]

wow that big bunch of blue zoanthids is very awesome!


Thank you Karin, I was told that they were Tubbs Blues. Not sure and I really don't care as I don't get into names. I just like how they grow and look.

[Kristy]

Amazing colors! You've got some truly beautiful and unusual corals.

[cpreefguy]

Dang John, AWESOME!!!

[txav8r]

WOW! Awesome tank!!

[cbianco]

WOW! Truly awesome Ace. I see the tank everyday and your pics make it look even better than in person.

That's not the Finnex, right.!?

Lol.

Christopher

[Third Coast Tropical]

very nice

[Mr Cob]

ooooooh....I like! What's the tank specs? Is that foam? The tank looks great. Nice large colonies too.

[FireWater]

Thanks for the compliments. Ace deserves alot of the credit for the pics.
Christopher - it ain't the Finnex. Yet! lol

The tank is a little over a year old.
It is a 90G standard dimension tank and I am running a Nova Extreme t-5 light above it. The background and pillar in the front right are made of foam. It looked a lot better before the hermits and an urchin got a hold of the foam as a majority of the crushed coral and sand have been removed by them.

[jroescher]

Same thing everyone else say's: AWESOME!

What's on the back? Covering the overflows??

[FireWater]

The whole back is cut piece of eggcrate with GreatStuff foam sprayed on. We then threw down black and grey oolite sand and then crushed coral on before it dried. I learned the technique from Mike(Texreefer)

[FireWater]

Oh ya, for anyone interested I will be fragging some of the corals and posting in the for sale section.

[Paul28]

**** Very nice !!!

[Europhyllia]

Oh ya, for anyone interested I will be fragging some of the corals and posting in the for sale section.

when and what? :blushing:

[FireWater]

Soon and mostly SPS. I need to make room for some stuff coming in and I am starting to have warfare between some colonies.

[stoneroller]

Very nice tank!

[txmaverickmh]

Really beautiful stuff, I love all the different colors!

Speaking of the different ones, what is the like 5th pic down, sps purple with green polyps?

I love that one!

Michael

[Texreefer]

Very nice John!!!

[snfkotara]

Those are beautiful Acros I have just start collecting them because before they just turn white in a day or so. But now wooooooohooooooo they are doing great and even have great color. I say it brightwell salt because thing have all started looking better. I hope mine grow big like yours if you ever decide to frag any sps I would love to have some.

[Pennies2Cents]

Simply Beautiful! :)

[TexasTodd]

What's that PINK acro?!

Me WANTS! :)

Todd

[hobogato]

it is an ora red planet and the pic is actually not as colorful as it is in person from the top down. the camera could not pick up the nice green down inside the coral very well.

[lt1z28]

Very Nice! Love the ORA Red Planet!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mr Cob]

Thank you Karin, I was told that they were Tubbs Blues. Not sure and I really don't care as I don't get into names. I just like how they grow and look.


I know you don't care...but others might, those are Silver Shockers. A great zoa that not many have.

I have both Tubbs Blue and Silver Shockers...the difference is the blue. Tubbs is a darker deeper blue and Shockers are more of a silverish blue. The skirt on shockers are smaller and the tubbs have longer skirts.

Just and FYI.

I LOVE THAT FTS!!! So awesome!!!!

[FireWater]

Really beautiful stuff, I love all the different colors!

Speaking of the different ones, what is the like 5th pic down, sps purple with green polyps?

I love that one!

Michael

That is a SUPER RARE version of FW's Limited Edition Plumalicious something ... something..




Actually I don't have a clue what it is. It was a rare find at the LFS - came in brownish and not looking good. Look what it became.

[FireWater]

Mr Cob, I guess I should rephrase how I said it. I do care about names it is just I can't remember them all and there are now so many morphs of each and everyone. Those zoas are my favorite in the tank. They have survived everything and every stupid mistake i could throw at them and they are thriving.

It is nice to know what they are though. Thank you.

[clone]

looking great Jonh.

[Mr Cob]

Yeah, my colony is pretty hardy as well and grows pretty fast! So cool to have a blue colony grow fast since blue is one of the rarer colors in our reef tanks.

Your colony is HUGE!

[los.tejanos83]

2 :thumbs_up::thumbs_up:

[JeffCo]

Tank looks great! nice mix of corals.

[roscozman]

Looks great. What are you running underneath? Skimmer, reactor, pump, Cheato, etc.? I would like to know what is keeping your system looking this nice.

Oh BTW, nice to meet you on Fri at Gabes (Ross & Eve)...

[Pennies2Cents]

Hey John, :wave:

Good to have met you on Friday.. Maybe one day we can take a drive out there to see that beautiful tank in person!:bigsmile:

Looks great! And those blue zoa's are just smok'in hot! Love em! :wub:

[ErikH]

MMMMMMMMMMMMM :)

Nice!

[ErikH]

wait, is that my purple valida? :)

[FireWater]

Looks great. What are you running underneath? Skimmer, reactor, pump, Cheato, etc.? I would like to know what is keeping your system looking this nice.

Oh BTW, nice to meet you on Fri at Gabes (Ross & Eve)...

It was a pleaseure meeting and talking with you and Eve also.

I am running an Octopus NW150 skimmer, Fuge with Chaeto and mangroves in a deep sand bed, no reactors. I like simple - I test at least monthly and add what I need to manually.

[FireWater]

Hey John, :wave:

Good to have met you on Friday.. Maybe one day we can take a drive out there to see that beautiful tank in person!:bigsmile:

Looks great! And those blue zoa's are just smok'in hot! Love em! :wub:
Same here and ya'll are welcome anytime. Thank you

[FireWater]

wait, is that my purple valida? :)


Thanks,

The Valida is in my tank so I think technically it is mine.:applause:


Actually I got it in a trade a while back. The frag of your Valida that I got at B&B met an untimely demise unfortunately.

[FireWater]

MrCob here is a pic for you.
This was taken in June of my Shocker colony - you can see the growth of the colony.http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p157/perry4083/004-1.jpg

[Europhyllia]

Amazing!

[Mr Cob]

Sweet!!! I made a mistake...I gave you the wrong name. They are Shivers. Blue Shivers. I called them Silver Shockers. Ooops (of course the name doesn't really matter but just wanted to let you know I made a mistake).

http://www.zoanthids.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=122

I love how fast these dudes grow...I started with like 3 polyps and they exploded into like a 50 polyp colony in no time. is that the original colony? If so, DANG!!! They exploded and then some!!!

[FireWater]

Yep. original colony. If you look at the brownish zoas in the foreground you can see them again in the pic Ace took of the colony.

[Europhyllia]

Sell me a couple of Shiver polyps!

[Mr Cob]

Man, that is just crazy!!! I'm not sure I have ever seen any grow that fast!!! They look so much better in large numbers!

[Goofball310]

Your tank looks great! I look forward to seeing the growout in six months.

[lrg]

Sweet tank man.

What lighting are you using? Looks like very good color!

No Kalkwasser or any other additional support other than the fuge?

[FireWater]

Sweet tank man.

What lighting are you using? Looks like very good color!

No Kalkwasser or any other additional support other than the fuge?


Thanks,

The lighting is a Nova Extreme 6 X 54 Watt all T-5. The bulb combo is as follows from front to back - ATI Blue+, UVL Super Actinic, UVL Aquasun, ATI Blue+, UVL 75/25, ATI Blue+. The combo was really blue so I just changed out the super actinic for an UVL actinic white and the 75/25 for an ATI Aquablue.

I try not to add anything if I can help it. I just started dosing Magnesium and upped my B-ionic dosing to 3 times per week to keep up with demands. I do frequent water changes and recently changed my water changes to ~5 gallons twice per week. There are no reactors or other dosers on the system - if something is going to screw it up it will be me not a machine/device. For now anyway

[Europhyllia]

:D Thanks so much, John. I love them!

[nubz]

what kind of foam? i really liike the look

[FireWater]

:D Thanks so much, John. I love them!


You are very welcome Karin. I hope they do well for you.

[FireWater]

what kind of foam? i really liike the look

Regular Great Stuff expanding foam in a can. Sprayed on over a framework of eggcrate and I then threw on sand, crushed coral, and painted a few spots w/ epoxy to help with the color. Do a search for posts from Texreefer and any of his tank builds for this technique.

[cbianco]

Bump for an old thread to spark some new excitment.

Hey John,

This was a truly amazing tank! Beautiful corals, lighting and placement.

I look forward to your next tank.

I looked through the pictures and couldn't locate the coral I'm looking for. :(

Christopher

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/johnp/DSC05726.jpg

[bullstedman]

How in the world do yall do that? I cant even get my new pink leather to open up.M y wife said i was a nancy for buying it.

[FireWater]

How big is that shovel Christopher? You dug this one from way down in the past.

I do look forward to the new build. If all goes well I should be able to post some pics of the newer and better version in a couple of months.

[FireWater]

How in the world do yall do that? I cant even get my new pink leather to open up.M y wife said i was a nancy for buying it.


It took dedication and luck. My luck ran out on this tank. Experience and knowledge gained from mistakes goes a long way.

[cbianco]

How big is that shovel Christopher? You dug this one from way down in the past.

I do look forward to the new build. If all goes well I should be able to post some pics of the newer and better version in a couple of months.

I always keep shovels handy to dig myself out of the holes I back into. ;)

Can't wait to see your next build. Actually, I hope to have the oppurtunity to help out if possible.


It took dedication and luck. My luck ran out on this tank. Experience and knowledge gained from mistakes goes a long way.

If I may add something, dedication, luck, research and patients.

Bullstedman, your experience will come in good time my friend. :)

Christopher

[Mr Cob]

This was a great tank. beautiful corals. I have some of them but they looked better in your care :)